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iPhone 11 Pro Outlasts iPhone 12 and 12 Pro in Extensive Battery Life Test

Friday October 23, 2020 8:36 am PDT by Joe Rossignol

Arun Maini today shared a new side-by-side iPhone battery life video test on his YouTube channel Mrwhosetheboss, timing how long the new iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro models last on a single charge compared to older models, with equal brightness, settings, battery health, and usage. All of the devices are running iOS 14 without a SIM card inserted.

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iPhone 12 vs iPhone 12 Pro / 11 Pro Max / 11 Pro / 11 / XR / SE Battery Life DRAIN Test.Mrwhosetheboss

Watch on YouTube

In the test, the iPhone 11 Pro outlasted both the 6.1-inch iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro, despite being a smaller 5.8-inch device. When the iPhone 12 Pro ran out of battery, the iPhone 11 Pro still had 18% battery life remaining, and when the iPhone 12 powered off, the iPhone 11 Pro still had 14% battery life remaining.

The final rankings ended up as follows:

iPhone 11 Pro Max: 8 hours and 29 minutes
iPhone 11 Pro: 7 hours and 36 minutes
iPhone 12: 6 hours and 41 minutes
iPhone 12 Pro: 6 hours and 35 minutes
iPhone 11: 5 hours and 8 minutes
iPhone XR: 4 hours and 31 minutes
iPhone SE (2020): 3 hours and 59 minutes

These rankings are of course missing the iPhone 12 Pro Max and iPhone 12 Pro mini, which will be available to pre-order starting November 6.

Teardowns and regulatory filings have revealed that the entire iPhone 12 lineup features slightly lower battery capacities. iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro models share a 2,815 mAh battery, for example, while the iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro are equipped with 3,110 mAh and 3,046 mAh batteries, respectively.

While the more power efficient A14 Bionic chip in Apple's latest iPhones helps to offset the lower battery capacities, this test shows that the iPhone 11 Pro still lasts longer than the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro under heavy, continuous usage.

Apple's tech specs indicate that the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro provide up to 17 hours of video playback, compared to up to 18 hours on the iPhone 11 Pro, so Apple does acknowledge that the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro have slightly less battery life.

It will be interesting to see a real-world battery life test for the iPhone 12 Pro Max, as Apple's tech specs suggest that the device has equal battery life as the iPhone 11 Pro Max, at least based on its own metrics. Apple lists both devices as providing up to 20 hours of video playback and up to 80 hours of audio playback.

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Top Rated Comments

78 months ago

Who would have thought that having a smaller battery in a phone that has more features/processes would result in less battery life?

[MEDIA=giphy]10C8dIIpCux0ru[/MEDIA]

Score: 50 Votes (Like | Disagree)

78 months ago

if it wasn’t for Apple’s obsession to make it thinner and thinner, we would now have a more lasting battery

Score: 27 Votes (Like | Disagree)

78 months ago

A lot of shocking news lately!!!!!

* AniPhone charges slower via 15-watt inductive charging than via a 20-watt wired charger.
* AniPhone with a smaller battery, faster processor, and larger display has shorter run time
* An iPhone with smaller internal volume and additional components has a smaller battery than a phone with larger internal volume and fewer components.
* The faster 5G cellular chipset consumes 20% more battery than the slower 4G chipset

This is all just NUTS!

It's like buying a car with a larger engine and getting worse fuel economy!

Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)

78 months ago

* iPhone 11 Pro Max: 8 hours and 29 minutes
* iPhone 11 Pro: 7 hours and 36 minutes
* iPhone 12: 6 hours and 41 minutes
* iPhone 12 Pro: 6 hours and 35 minutes

Yikes, that’s a huge difference. And the phones are on WIFI so it’s not even 5G related. I’m curious to see how the 12 Pro Max does.

Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)

78 months ago

Not that anyone cares, but I was disappointedly, largely unimpressed with the new iPhones this year. The MagSafe cases are flimsy per MKBHD’s testing, I couldn’t care less about 5G or LiDAR, and the differences in the new form factor will be covered by a case.

I know “then don’t buy one,” or “why even comment,” well, fair point, but - seeing this battery test just makes it even more disappointing.

I wish we would’ve seen a smaller notch and a higher display refresh rate.

just my $0.02

Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)

78 months ago

This might influence buyers coming from 11's but for those like me who have XS Max or older, this will still be a welcome increase in battery life. My XS Max currently is at 91% battery health. Can't wait to get my 12 Pro Max!

Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)

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